Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Published: 15th of September 2015

For Noa and Callum, being together is dangerous, even deadly. From the start, sixteen-year-old Noa senses that the mysterious transfer student to her Monterey boarding school is different. Callum unnerves and intrigues her, and even as she struggles through family tragedy, she’s irresistibly drawn to him. Soon they are bound by his deepest secret: Callum is Fae, banished from another world after a loss hauntingly similar to her own.

But in Noa’s world, Callum needs a special human energy, Light, to survive; his body steals it through touch—or a kiss. And Callum’s not the only Fae on the hunt. When Callum is taken, Noa must decide: Will she sacrifice everything to save him? Even if it means learning their love may not be what she thought?

- Netgalley

I always feel bad when my first thought is ‘This was better than I expected,’ because I hoped I always went into books open minded and that thought always makes me realise, I really don’t. Shattered Blue has a beautiful cover and promised a story of forbidden love and fae magic! A great combination in theory but I’ve been promised that before. The one that really jumps to mind was Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr, and that was a total disappointment for me. It was just so jumbled and dry!

So when I started reading this I didn’t want to get too excited. And my initial thoughts were, well, it’s not as quirky as Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey but its not dull like Wicked Lovely either. In the end this book took me totally by surprise! Its such a cleverly written novel that builds up and slowly entrances the reader. It’s weaves such a beautiful fae-tale, with wonderful world building, likable characters and a romance that is totally swoon worthy!

Shattered Blue has been split into Parts. Part One is told from Noa’s point of view, and gives a rather flat and clinical introduction to Noa, her life and her family. At first I found it hard to get into because it came across quite clunky and sterile. But then I started to think, perhaps its this way because Noa has lost her sister, Isla? And I think this is true. She feels isolated and forgotten, broken and lost. Through the way this Part is written you get a real sense of her and her shattered life. It’s as though she is just functioning, just passing each moment as it comes and nothing touches her, she is numb. Her only true outlet for her pain is her poetry. Which is quite moving. I’m not big on poetry but I found her Peter Pan work rather interesting.

When Callum arrives she seems to start to see more of the world, not because of any kind of insta-love but because he’s different and breaks through the fog that has surrounded her everyday life. Its at this point that you start to get more, as though her black and white world has started to colour in. In Part Two we start to see another point of view, Callum’s. I thought this was so clever because there was a clear reflection between Noa starting to feel things and the novel starting to pick up pass and come alive. Subsequently the following part also gained extra view points.

I really loved Noa as a character. She was focused and loyal, and she was kind! I loved the romance in this is was complicated and exciting. I’m not going to lie, and say I didn’t see the love triangle coming, but I didn’t think it would come so early on! I’m not a hater of love triangles and this one I especially enjoyed. I won’t tell you what team I’m on but lets just say it wasn’t till the very end that I made up my mind. I was just glad the love triangle didn’t involve Miles. Now that would have irritated me!

I found Lauren Bird Horowitz fae history really interesting. I liked the simplicity of the colours and how they each had different abilities. I liked how natural it felt when Noa found out. Sometimes it can feel forced, when an author tries to introduce a back history but Lauren Bird Horowitz cleverly inserted it when there was a natural lull in the action. It felt like stories being told within stories rather than a fact dump!

Overall this novel just flowed. It crawled into my mind like a ‘Mindworm’*, bewitching me with its romance and magical history. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the trilogy has in store! Especially after that ending! Now that really was a mind-blowing twist! Until the next book!